


Getting to Know You

by Charlesleesbutt



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Get ready for lots of film and pop culture references, Grahamscott, M/M, Slow Burn, Warren is just a really big nerd and Nathan is also a lowkey nerd, pricefield if you squint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 12:06:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12864177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlesleesbutt/pseuds/Charlesleesbutt
Summary: After everyone else has gone home for the long weekend, Nathan Prescott finds himself having to ask Warren Graham for help. Along the way, they discover things about each other that they never knew before, causing a friendship, or maybe something more, to start developing between them.





	Getting to Know You

**Author's Note:**

> Alright y’all this game has so many inconsistencies and ambiguities but please just bear with me for this fic. Here's some kind of au where everything is semi-normal.

_ A long weekend. _

 

Most students would be overjoyed. Being a bording school of sorts, Blackwell academy reserved certain blocks of consecutive days to allow students to travel back home to visit with their families. These days tended to coincide with holidays, but there were also times in which they did not. This was one of those times. A long weekend simply to give everyone some time off or a chance to travel back home to see their parents if they so wished. 

 

Most people gladly took this opportunity to abandon their dorms for a few days. A change of scenery or a visit with family had refreshing and beneficial effects on the mind. But still, this was easier said than done for some students. There were those whose families lived too far away so it was almost pointless to waste entire days of driving for a short visit. Of course there was always the option to travel by air, but that could get pricey and complicated.

 

Warren Graham was one of the students that happened to be stuck back at his dorm over the long weekend. His parents had recently moved even farther away from Blackwell academy making Warren’s trek back home even longer than before. He had his own car on campus so he could get back home if he really needed to, but this time he had decided against it. As much as he missed his family, sometimes it just wasn’t worth it to drive all the way back home only to be able to stay for a short time, then have to drive all the way back again after. By staying at his dorm room, Warren knew he could save himself a good amount of time that he could use to get ahead on his studies or to binge some films.

 

The sound of Warren’s footsteps echoed through the halls of the empty boy’s dorm as he made his way towards his room. This had to be the quietest that he’d ever heard the dorm. It seemed that nearly everyone had gone home for this break as far as he could tell since nobody's doors appeared to be open nor did any room seem to emit a single sound. How lonely. Not that he really minded being alone, he just preferred not to be if possible.

 

This lonely feeling caused him to recall how one of his initial decisions to stay on campus had backfired on him. Warren knew that Max Caulfield’s family lived pretty far away as well so he had expected her to remain on campus over the short break. However, upon texting her she revealed that she had already made plans to stay over at Chloe’s house for the next few days.  _ Figures _ . No matter, it was too late to pack and hit the road in a timely matter now. Might as well make the best of this temporary solitude.

 

“Home sweet home” Warren breathed, as he arrived at his room, unlocked the door, and shuffled his way inside.

~~~~

 

After mindlessly wasting some time surfing the web for awhile, Warren began to feel a lack of motivation to do absolutely anything.

 

“Only a few hours without human contact and I’m already losing my mind.” he said, tilting back in his chair.

 

As if some kind of sign, a sudden noise came from out in the hall, followed by a loud ‘ _ fuuuuccccCCCCKKKK _ ’, which nearly caused Warren to topple out of his chair.

 

Was he hearing things? Had the silence really caused him to go mad already?

 

Warren’s boredom and curiosity got the best of him as he began creeping towards the door as quietly as humanly possible, making sure to grab a nearby yardstick on the way. He’d seen way too many episodes of the  _ X-Files _ to even think about investigating this situation unarmed.

 

Slowly but surely, Warren pushed his door open and peered out into the dormitory hallway. As his eyes darted around the perimeter, they eventually landed on the probable cause of the noise.

 

_ Nathan Prescott? What was he doing here? _

 

Nathan appeared to be sitting on the ground in front of his dorm room. His back against the door and his face in his hands. He looked,  _ awful _ . Even though Warren had never felt particularly friendly towards Nathan, he couldn't help but feel bad for him. He looked so helpless crouched on the ground like that. But maybe it was best not to get involved. Nathan wasn’t really one to show kindness, in particularly to people like Warren. So why should he even bother?

 

Warren wasn't sure if it was how miserable Nathan looked or how absurd he was starting to feel after not talking to anyone for awhile, but he eventually decided that he had to act. He couldn't just say nothing. It didn't feel right. But what exactly was he supposed to say?

 

In his contemplation, Warren began to lean on his door, causing it to creak.

 

At the sound, Nathan’s head flicked up and he met Warren’s gaze. Within seconds Nathan was on his feet, in full defense mode.

 

“What the fuck are you doing here, Graham?!” Nathan barked.

 

“I uh...live here.” Warren responded, not really sure what else to say.

 

“Thought you would have gone home to your Mommy by now.”

 

Warren stiffened, averting his gaze, “Not this time.” He’d been hit with the sudden realization that he really did miss his parents, although Nathan was probably just trying to use this insult to wound Warren’s pride.

 

To Warren’s surprise, Nathan responded with a scoff and, “I guess that makes two of us.”

 

Warren blinked and looked back towards Nathan. He noticed that Nathan’s eyes looked a little puffy and he wondered if he'd been crying. But he wondered even more why Nathan was still here talking to him. Suddenly, it dawned on him that Nathan must have accidentally locked himself out of his dorm. The sound that Warren had heard earlier must have been Nathan frantically shaking the handle in a desperate attempt to get in.

 

Warren had been in the same situation before and knew exactly how dumb it could make you feel. It really wasn't that difficult to remember your keys, and forgetting them made you look like an absolute idiot. Luckily for Nathan, nobody else was around to take notice. Well, besides Warren of course. But he wasn’t really into the idea of making fun of someone over something so trivial. Making fun of Nathan Prescott didn’t really seem wise, and not just because of the amount of power that he held at this school. No, there was another reason. Warren highly doubted that Nathan had been crying because he’d forgotten his keys.

 

Eventually, this sense of pity and awkward silence proved to be too much for Warren to bear any longer, and he decided that he should probably say something else.

 

“Hey, um Nathan?” Warren uttered, clearing his throat. “Look, I know you like your space and we’re not exactly friends or anything, but I’ve been in the same situation and-”

 

Nathan cut Warren off, “ _ The same situation _ , what the fuck are you going on about now!? You don’t-”

 

As much as Warren expected Nathan to dislike being interrupted when speaking, he decided to interrupt him anyways. Besides, Nathan had cut him off first and Warren wasn’t too fond of being interrupted either. Especially when he was only trying to help.

 

“Listen dude, I can  _ totally _ tell that you locked yourself out of your room. Don’t sweat it, it's happened to me before too. So I mean, if you wanted to while you wait for a spare key, you could come chill in my room? I’m sure if you call Samuel, it wouldn’t take him that long to bring you an extra key. And you’d still be left with plenty of time to pack and be on the road home for break. Just thought you might like some company is all. The hallway can get pretty lonely when it's like this…” Warren trailed off. 

 

_ What was he actually doing _ ? He felt weird saying stuff like this.  _ Why _ was he saying stuff like this? Nathan had never really done anything particularly kind for him, so he really had no reason to do the same. But again, Warren just felt the need to do something. Maybe the lack of human contact from today was causing him to go mad after all.

 

Nathan questioningly looked Warren up and down before making a noise that sounded like a cross between a light laugh and a grunt. “Are you serious, Graham? What makes _you_ think I need _your_ help?”

 

Before Warren could interject, Nathan had turned the corner and stormed out of the building.

 

‘ _ Geez what is with that guy? _ ’ thought Warren. ‘ _ I guess that’s the last time I ever try to help. _ ’ Not that he felt particularly bad about the situation, Nathan was kind of right after all. He probably had dozens of people that he could turn to. Why would he even consider spending time with someone like Warren when given the choice. They’d never even ‘hung out’ before so there was certainly no obligation between either of them. Even though he hadn’t really expected Nathan to act differently than he had, Warren couldn’t help but feel a tad disappointed; his loneliness was really starting to get to him, and he still had quite a few days of loneliness to come.

 

Seeing as Nathan had left, there was no point in lingering in the hallway any longer. Warren stepped back into his room, closing the door behind him and propping the yardstick back up to where it had previously been.

 

“Well that was an interesting distraction.” Warren spoke aloud to himself, pondering what he should do next. “I guess I should try to get ahead on some school work so that way I have free time for the rest of the break.”

 

With that, Warren sat back down in front of his computer and began to look into several upcoming assignments.

 

~~~~

_ Pat pat pat. _

 

Glancing over at the window, Warren noticed that it had started to rain. Not only that, but it was starting to get dark out. Quite the spooky atmosphere Warren thought, as he heard himself say aloud “It was a dark and stormy night…”

 

_ Knock knock knock. _

 

For the second time that day, Warren nearly toppled out of his chair. 

 

The creepy atmosphere outside and the fact that he was completely alone in the building was way too close to something out of a horror movie.  

 

There was only one person that could be possibly knocking on his door at such an hour unannounced.

 

_ Frankenstein. _

 

Well technically Frankenstein’s monster and technically not a person, but you get the idea.

 

No wait, Nosferatu was a total possibility as well.

 

Warren’s inner monologuing was interrupted by another group of knocks. 

 

Instinctively grabbing for his yardstick  _ yet again _ , Warren crept towards his door  _ yet again. _

 

“Wh-Who’s that tapping at my chamber door?” Warren squeaked.

 

A pause. And then a sigh, as if giving in.

 

_ “Tis some visitor…” _ a voice reluctantly mumbled.

 

Warren quirked an eyebrow. A Poe fan? At this hour?  _ Or was it... _

 

“Lenore? Is that you?” Warren continued to play along.

 

An agitated huff came from outside. “Just open up, asshole.”

 

Ahh, I know that voice, thought Warren as he turned the handle, opening his door to reveal Nathan Prescott. For the second time today, Warren Graham was peering out of his bedroom door and looking at Nathan Prescott. Only this time, he was much closer and seemed somewhat calmer. Had he been smoking? Maybe the rain drove him back inside.

 

Noticing Warren’s quizzical look, Nathan spoke up, “Look, just so we’re clear I don’t normally do stuff like this. But thanks to my shit luck and the fact that campus is an absolute ghost town right now, I need a favor.”

 

“Uhh, sure. What is it?”

 

“I need your phone.”

 

“My phone?”

 

“Yes,  _ your _ phone. Did I stutter?”

 

“No, it's just that I’m 99.9% sure that you have your own phone that you could use.” Warren responded in confusion.

 

“Yeah, and you’d be 99.9% correct except for the fact that my phone is fucking dead. And my charger just so happens to be in my room.”

 

“Ohhhh, I see. Say no more, I totally get it.” Warren said, as he reached into his pocket to reveal his cell phone, gesturing it towards Nathan who, plucked the phone from the other boy’s grasp and opened up the messaging feature. In the midst of doing so, Nathan glanced back up, eyeing the yardstick that Warren still happened to be clutching.

 

“Oh, this?” Warren chuckled, “This was in case you turned out to be Nosferatu. I needed a way to defend myself.”

 

This earned an eyeroll from Nathan as he went back to typing. Although, Warren felt a twinge of victory as he thought he noticed Nathan resisting the urge to smile. Why did this fact amuse him so much? The whole situation was ridiculously surreal. This had to be the longest time that he’d ever even spent consecutively speaking to Nathan. Normally, he’d avoid even making slight eye contact. But now, he found himself not wanting their conversation to end quite yet.

 

“Soooo. Can I ask who you’re using my phone to text?”

 

Nathan looked slightly irritated at this intrusion of his privacy and continued to type in his text message. Warren didn’t really care since it was  _ his _ phone after all and he had the right to know that it wasn’t being used for something illegal.

 

Before Warren could press any further, Nathan mumbled “Blackwell’s grounds keeping services. I still need to get into my room, remember?”

 

“Wouldn’t it be easier to call or just actually go talk to Samuel?”

 

Nathan ignored Warren’s questions as he finished typing the text and handed the phone back to Warren. A bout of thunder rumbled through the sky causing the two to instinctively direct their attention over to the window. The rain seemed to be coming down slightly harder now.

 

Warren broke the silence, “I should probably plug in my phone just in case the power goes out.” With that, he shuffled away from the door and carefully plugged his phone into the charger back at his desk. He also made a point to put down his trusty yardstick seeing as he no longer needed it.

 

Nathan lingered in the doorway, leaning on it’s frame. “It shouldn’t be that long. Just let me know when you get a response.” he said a little awkwardly. Warren thought that he looked slightly paranoid. Maybe uncomfortable? Nathan probably didn’t like being in a somewhat unfamiliar surrounding, feeling vulnerable without access to his own room or phone. Maybe Warren could try to lighten the mood and get the other to relax.

 

“What are you, a vampire?” Warren joked. “You don’t have to stand there in the doorway like that, I invited you in earlier remember?”

 

Clearly weighing his options, Nathan glanced over his shoulder before ultimately deciding to enter the room, seemingly surveying his surroundings as he did so.

 

Warren took notice, “Oh here, take my chair. It’s near my phone so you can see when there's a response.”

 

Without a word, Nathan stepped over to Warren’s desk and took a seat. Warren had seated himself on his bed. The room had grown unbearably quiet once again and Warren began to busy himself by fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt. Nathan began to pick at his fingernails, occasionally turning to glance out the window at the rain. Without the ability for either of them to use their phones as an excuse to avoid direct conversation, the uncomfortable silence between them was making the atmosphere in the room more tense than it probably should have been. But then again, this was Nathan Prescott. Someone whom Warren had only known as a notorious dick. Not always to him but still, it was intimidating sitting idly in a room with someone with such a reputation. And Warren had made the conscious decision to allow him in. He still questioned his reasoning but truthfully it wasn’t that bad sitting here like this, despite the slight awkwardness. Warren was always willing to help someone in need and so far, Nathan Prescott wasn’t actually all that bad. But this unbearable silence was. Warren had to say something.

 

“By the way, I didn’t know you were a Poe fan.”

 

Nathan didn’t appear to be shocked by the fact that Warren was speaking, but he did seem intrigued at the choice of topic. “Uhh yeah, I didn’t really take you for one either.”

 

“I sup _ POE _ se I am.” Warren grinned.

 

Nathan groaned, “Don’t you ever stop?”

 

“Stop what?  _ Joking _ ?  _ Talking _ ? Neither I guess.” Warren shrugged.

 

Silence again. This conversation was getting nowhere. Nathan clearly wasn’t the type that liked to engage in mindless conversation. But to Warren’s surprise, Nathan spoke up again.

 

“I also didn’t really take  _ you _ for a Nosferatu fan either.”

 

Warren’s eyes lit up, “Are you kidding? That film’s imagery is haunting even by today’s standards. You’d be insane to ignore such a masterpiece!”

 

“Huh. You’ve got a good eye Graham. Just don’t get me started on the contrast and use of shadows in that film or we’ll be here all night.” 

 

Warren found himself feeling totally okay with this idea. He  _ liked _ this side of Nathan. Most of the time, Nathan was painted as someone lacking personality and passion. But this was clearly not the case.

 

“I didn’t know you were such a cinephile, Prescott.” Warren said, a little in awe.

 

Nathan’s lips curled into a slight smile, “Ditto. I always knew you were a nerd but not  _ this _ kind of nerd.”

 

“Excuse you, I take pride in being a well-rounded nerd. I have many areas of expertise.”

 

“I believe you.” Nathan said, smiling a little more, but not much, and gesturing to the array of pop culture memorabilia scattered around the room. He seemed to have relaxed in the slightest which, made Warren happy for some reason. Recalling the look on Nathan’s puffy face when they had talked earlier made Warren’s stomach turn. If Nathan was hurting, he wanted to help. Even if it might be something he should stay out of. For now, he could at least be hospitable. Be kind. Be a  _ friend _ . Being Nathan Prescott’s friend surely wouldn’t be that bad, right? Maybe what Warren really needed was a friend too.

 

In the midst of his thoughts, Warren noticed his phone light up. “Oh hey, that must be the groundskeepers.” Warren mentioned as Nathan reached for the phone. Nathan’s eyes quickly scanned over the text before he began typing away again. Although, this message was far more brief. Once he had finished typing, Nathan placed the phone back on the desk and turned his attention to the window. It had grown substantially darker now that evening had set in.

 

“So?”

 

Nathan appeared to be lost in thought, but looked back at Warren out of the corner of his eyes. “They said they’d be here  _ soon _ . But who fucking knows how long that’ll even be.”

 

“Oh, well no worries. I don’t mind waiting. I’ve got nothing but time anyways.” Warren laughed, before lowering his tone. “But ummm Nathan, if you were planning on going home tonight, I would advise against it.”

 

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Nathan shifted in the chair. His focus now fully back on Warren.

 

Not wanting Nathan to take his suggestion the wrong way, Warren spoke somewhat quickly so as to get his full point across. “It’s just that it's getting late and the storm seems to be getting pretty bad. Even if your family lives relatively close I don’t exactly think it's wise to drive right now.”

 

Nathan looked amused, “So just because you helped me once, you think you’re worthy of giving me orders now?”

 

“What? No! Nathan it's not an order. Just a  _ suggestion _ . I’m concerned for you that's all.”

 

This statement seemed to take Nathan aback. “ _ Concerned _ ?”

 

“Well yeah, I mean something could happen to you. What if you got  _ injured _ or even  _ killed _ ? I’d feel like shit if I’d had the opportunity to stop you or save you but did nothing.”

 

Nathan seemed unable to keep eye contact any longer and looked back towards the window. “You don’t need to be concerned about me, Graham. You don’t even know me.”

 

_ But I want to,  _ Warren caught himself thinking. He couldn’t quite fathom why, but that's absolutely what he was thinking. That's what he wanted to say. But he couldn’t. People just didn’t say things like that. Unable to form a proper response, Warren bit his lip.

 

“Besides, I wasn’t planning on going home anyways.” Nathan added.

 

“O-Oh, you’re not? Not even like tomorrow when the weather is better? Even when your family lives so close?”

 

Nathan scoffed, “Why would I? There's no point. There's nothing for me there.”

 

Now Warren really didn't know what to say. Everybody knew about the prestige and wealth that came with being a Prescott. How could there be nothing for Nathan back home? He could probably snap his fingers and have whatever the hell he wanted whenever the hell he wanted. Being rich must be nice. But then, Warren was reminded of the age old saying: ‘ _ Money can't buy happiness _ .’ Personally, he always thought that that saying was kinda bs. But now, he felt that he was beginning to understand it a little differently. Like Nathan had said, Warren didn't know him; he didn't exactly have the right to judge. There was clearly more to Nathan’s story. More that Warren dared not ask about now.

 

Warren’s attempts to decipher Nathan were interrupted as the other boy spoke again, breaking the soft silence. “Don’t look at me like that, I know exactly what you're thinking.”

 

“S-Sorry…” Warren squeaked, flushing a bit. He couldn't help but feel a strange sense of melancholy for Nathan. How many times had he been judged by others solely because of family reputation? Clearly enough that he was able to read Warren’s thoughts so well.

 

“Whatever.” Nathan scoffed, crossing his arms.

 

“I am though!” Warren responded, maybe a bit too quickly.

 

Nathan blinked, frowning. He looked confused yet curious. “For...what?”

 

Clearing his throat, Warren responded. “Uhh, that it has to be that way I guess? I’m sorry for whatever you're dealing with right now. I'm not claiming to understand everything and I'm not asking you to tell me. But well...I’m here if you need anything or need to talk.” Warren half expected the other boy to punch him and storm out of the room for saying shit like this. To his surprise, Nathan only stiffened his posture and spoke.

 

“Jesus Graham, are you even real? No one can be  _ that _ full of shit. Why do you even care so much about me anyways?”

 

Warren flushed again. “Well I...I don't know. I just don't like to see anyone get hurt. Sometimes even just talking to someone can make all the difference. And well...you’re actually pretty cool to talk to.”

 

Nathan fell silent for awhile, which worried Warren ever so slightly; Nathan was a difficult person to read so there was no telling how he was actually reacting to the whole situation. Warren didn't think that he'd crossed any kind of line or something with what he had been saying. But then again, he really had no clue.

 

“You're not so bad yourself, Graham.” Nathan mumbled before raising his voice again as he added “And don't even think about ever telling anyone I said that unless you want to be dead, understood?”

 

Despite the fact that Nathan might actually be serious about his threat, Warren still chuckled. “Alright alright, your secret’s safe with me. No one will ever know that you were socializing with a nerd.”  _ Socializing and enjoying it _ , Warren thought to himself afterwards. At least Nathan seemed much more comfortable now. The other boy was smiling ever so slightly while focusing on something in the room instead of making eye contact. Warren on the other hand couldn’t hide his ridiculous grin. Popularity wasn’t  _ that _ important to him, but even receiving a minor compliment from someone like Nathan Prescott felt surprisingly good.

 

Nathan brought his attention back to Warren and then nodded his head towards a collection of DVDs on a nearby shelf. “Mind if I check out your film collection?”

 

Warren felt a twinge of excitement, “I’d be honored if you did!”

 

Rolling his eyes, Nathan got up from the chair and stepped closer to the shelves. “Relax, I just got tired of having to look at that shit-eating grin of yours, that's all.”

This of course only made Warren’s shit-eating grin grow as he got up from his bed to join Nathan at the shelves. “So, what do you think of my collection?”

 

Nathan was leaning in slightly and squinting in order to read the titles of the DVDs. “It’s small.”

 

“Well yeah I mean, most of my stuff is digital. But I do try to get my hands on physical copies of some of my personal favorites.”

 

“It’s also predictable.”

 

“ _ Predictable _ ? What do you mean?”

 

“Well lets just say that I definitely pegged you as a trilogy kind of guy.  _ Back to the Future _ ,  _ Indiana Jones _ ,  _ Star Wars _ ,  _ Lord of the Rings _ . It’s all so obvious.”

 

“Hey, those are  _ all _ great films! Please tell me that you've  _ at least _ seen  _ Back to the Future _ ?!”

 

This statement actually made Nathan laugh a little, it seemed that he was the most comfortable when talking about film. “How fucking uncultured do you think I am? Of course I have!”

 

“Oh good. Well I just wanted to make sure no one was criticizing my taste in film without having even seen classics like these.”

 

“Trust me, I’m not. They’re popular for a reason.” Nathan continued to stare at the DVDs, “You’ve got some good cult classic shit here too, you really are a well-rounded nerd.”

 

“I told you! But what about yourself? You seem to know an awful lot about this stuff too?” Warren wondered if he was pushing his luck.

 

Nathan shrugged in response, his tone turning somewhat defensive, “I just like film that’s all. It comes naturally to me. Watching a movie is like escaping to another world, a place where I can draw inspiration from. Unlike the real world where everything is the same and it sucks.”

 

“Huh. That's an interesting point of view. But I think I agree in my own way.”

 

Nathan shot an indecipherable look at Warren before directing his attention back towards the DVDs. He seemed to feel a little embarrassed for what he’d said and decided to sway the subject in a slightly different direction, somewhat sarcastically. “Even with my extensive knowledge, I don’t think you could consider me as big of a nerd as you. There’s some stuff here that even I haven’t seen.”

 

Warren was glad that Nathan wanted to keep up the conversation, and curiously pressed on. “Oh yeah, like what?”

“Hmm, let’s see.” Nathan’s eyes scanned the collection of movies once again. “ _ Somewhere in Time _ ? I’m not really familiar with that. Looks too fucking moody for me.”

 

“Are you serious!? Nathan, that’s a classic time travel film! It’s got love! It’s got loss! It’s got history! What more could you ask for? Plus you seem like you’d  _ actually _ be into all that moody shit.” Warren smirked, earning a glare back from Nathan, who oddly enough allowed this comment to slide.

 

Almost sounding too excited, Warren continued, “But seriously, we have to watch it sometime to-”

 

A knock on the door frame interrupted Warren and sent both boy’s heads instinctively whirling towards the sound. A slender framed, unfamiliar man appeared in the doorway. He was dressed in a groundskeepers uniform but looked nothing like Samuel. He must have been a night crew member or something.

 

“I assume one of you is Nathan Prescott?” the man asked in a gruff voice.

 

“That would be me.” Nathan responded stepping forward.

 

“Well, I’ve brought you your lock out key.”

 

Nathan said nothing as he followed the man out of Warren’s room, crossed the hall, and unlocked the door to his room at last. Warren found himself gravitating towards the doorway to watch.

 

The groundskeeper took the lock out key back from Nathan and began plodding his way towards the building’s exit, making sure to add “Be more careful with where you put your keys next time. Don’t want to make a habit of this.”

 

By this time, Nathan had already stepped inside his room, but Warren could still hear the groan of disgust and the muffled “ _ Whatthefuckever _ ” that followed it.

 

And just like that Nathan Prescott was gone and Warren was left standing in the doorway once again, wondering what to do with himself. He hadn’t exactly expect Nathan to stay with him any longer, but he hadn’t expected him to be gone so quickly either.

 

Warren stepped back into his own room and slowly began to close the door when he heard Nathan’s door creak back open again, followed by a “Hey!”

 

Now that the groundskeeper had left, there was no one else that Nathan could possibly be talking to. Warren welled up with happiness as he peaked his head back out into the hallway, acknowledging the slightly awkward looking Nathan Prescott leaning out of his own room. Nathan looked like there was something that he wanted to say, but was unable to form the words. Warren took this as a sign to speak up himself.

 

“I can’t believe you didn’t even thank the groundskeeper!” Warren laughed. This caused Nathan to smile a bit in return.

 

“Yeah well, he sure took his sweet time and then had the nerve to fucking lecture me.” Nathan responded, before clearing his throat. “But umm...I guess I’d rather thank you anyways. I can’t think of many others who would have showed me the same kindness. You’re alright, Graham. I think I can tolerate you.” With this, Nathan offered a soft yet sincere smile only for a moment, before his facial features hardened once again. “Now don’t expect any favors in return. This doesn’t really  _ mean _ anything but...if you wanted, I’d  _ maybe _ watch your dorky time travel movie with you sometime. As a way to say thanks...”

 

Nathan was unable to keep eye contact, clearly feeling vulnerable and out of character as he was unsure how to act after the whole situation. It had been an odd night. Simultaneously, Warren was over the moon. His heart filled up with glee at the thought of possibly not having to spend the entirety of the long weekend again. Plus, he  _ really  _ liked talking to Nathan. Getting to talk film with another film person for once was like a dream come true.

 

“Of course! I’d definitely love to watch it with you!” Warren said, probably a little too enthusiastically once again.

 

Nathan began to look as if he partially regretted his decision to say anything, “Not making any promises to like it though, I’m a bit picky.”

 

“Ha! We’ll see about that! I bet you’ll be crying by the end of the film.”

 

Nathan gave an amused huff as he turned back into his room, “You’re on.”

 

Once again, Warren felt a strange sense of victory as he beamed in his doorway, continuing to stare at Nathan’s now closed door. Retreating into his own room and softly shutting the door behind him, he began to feel something else as well. A bout of giddiness followed by the sensation of butterflies flapping around inside of him caused Warren to press his back against the door and slide down to the ground. What was this feeling? It was a good feeling. Possibly the aftermath of making a new friend. Hopefully they were friends. Warren would like for them to be friends. Even if only for a little while. 

 

With these thoughts, Warren couldn’t help but compare his situation to  _ The Breakfast Club _ . He was asking himself the same questions now that he typically did at the end of that movie. The characters in that film were able to bond after only spending a few hours together, but did the friendship last beyond that particular Saturday? Would they be able to overcome societal norms and treat each other as friends at school come Monday?

Warren got up from where he had been sitting and slumped down onto his bed, staring up at a spot on the ceiling. He supposed his questions weren’t completely valid. Afterall, that was a movie and this was real life. Warren recalled what Nathan had said earlier: ‘ _ Unlike the real world where everything is the same and it sucks _ .’ Maybe he was right. Still, Warren could not deny the fact that he had actually enjoyed the time that he had spent with Nathan. He’d also be lying if he tried to deny the fact that he was eagerly looking forward to watching  _ Somewhere in Time _ with Nathan, if and when that ever happened. He tried not to get his hopes up. Nathan probably had much better things to do with his time anyways. 

 

Still, he clung to a minuscule amount of hope. Warren was still intrigued by how Nathan seemed like a completely different person once he’d warmed up to the situation. It must be exhausting having to constantly put up a front to impress others. Or to hide your weaknesses. Whatever Nathan was dealing with, Warren felt bad. He wanted to help, that much he knew for sure. Whether or not Nathan decided to associate himself with Warren in the future was up to Nathan. Regardless, Warren was willing to be friends if that's what Nathan wished. And for some reason, Warren wanted them to be friends more than anything else in the world right now. He still couldn’t quite fathom why.  

**Author's Note:**

> Ahaha,,,so I know everyone wants me to finish my Great Comet fics,,,BUT I've recently become obsessed with Life is Strange and started another fic whoops. This chapter is just establishing the two of them warming up to each other because I want their relationship to develop naturally. I know I'm kind of late to this fandom and this ship but better late than never!! Let me know if I should continue this~ :)


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